Shielded electrical connectors are known that are electrically connected to the electrical conductors and shield of an electrical cable and have movable latch members for latchable engagement with stationary latch members of a complementary electrical connector.
The latch members of one of these known connectors are in the form of metal members each having latching sections at one end and a dielectric pressing member secured to the other end with a pin-receiving section located between the ends in which a pivot pin is disposed. The pivot pins have their ends secured to the sides of a shield member thereby hingedly mounting the latch members onto the shield member. A dielectric cover member is positioned over the shield member and has openings in the sides through which the dielectric pressing members extend and the latching sections are disposed between the shield member and cover member and are moved away from the shield member sides when the pressing members are pressed inwardly against the bias of spring sections.
The assembly of the latch members onto the shield member via the pivot pins is complicated and resulted in high production costs.
The latch members of another known connector disclosed in Japanese Publication No. 63-155572 published June 28, 1988 comprise metal members having rear sections forcefully fitted into integral arms that extend along the sides of a dielectric cover member that covers a metal shield member, latching sections at the front ends of the metal members that extend along the sides of the shield member between the shield member and the cover member, and spring members as part of the rear sections that engage the sides of the shield member and bias the latching sections against the sides of the shield member. Pressing on the arms moves the latching sections away from the sides of the shield member, the integral arms forming a pivot with the cover member.
The structure of the dielectric cover member with the integral arms is complex, the pivot areas of the arms to the cover member proved to be weak and the production costs were high.
The dielectric cover member and the dielectric covered pressing sections of the latch members prevent static electricity from the bodies of operators to be transferred to the shielded connectors.
An object of the present invention is to provide a shielded electrical connector that is easy to assemble thereby reducing production costs and the latch members operate reliably and stably.